What is dance meditation?
It is a type of meditation in which we use the rhythm, attentiveness,
and an intuitive state which are typical qualities of many types of
meditation and dancing -- even dancing which is recreational rather
than meditational. Any kind of dancing can be meditative, but there
is also a classification of "sacred dancing," which is the use of
dance to explore and express our identity as soul.

Dancing
is a part of virtually all religions. Religious dancing is common in
modern-day "primitive" cultures, and it was surely a part of
ancient primitive cultures -- guided by shamans who would
dance for the purpose of entering a trance. In nature-based societies
and religions, the rhythm of dancing was an imitation of the rhythm
of nature (including the cycles of seasons); more than mere mimicry,
dancing was an attempt to understand and unite oneself with those
rhythms. In some cases, religious dancing became secularized and it
lost its original sacred meaning, as in the case of the familiar
"Maypole" dance, which is now an innocent children's game but which
originally symbolized the plunging of a huge phallus into the earth
to fertilize the crops.

Dancing
is a means of exploring life and spirituality.

Dancing is a means of self-discovery. Particularly in
improvised dancing, we delve into our feelings in order to find
something to express; in this search, we perceive elements which
we did not know previously -- different emotions, attitudes, and
thoughts. Thus we learn more about our psychological nature, and
we probe more deeply into subtle states which are identified as
"spiritual" -- including states of transcendence, rapture, and
union. As our body becomes energized through movement, we discern
more clearly the energy of the body and its relation to the energy
of the surrounding worlds; the body becomes less of a solid mass
and more of a sacred focal-point of spiritual power within the
physical world. To explore different aspects of ourselves, we can
dance with a variety of musical styles, including jazz, rock,
classical, and international music (Middle Eastern, African,
etc.).

Dancing is a means of expression. Many mystics have said that
words cannot communicate their visions and ecstasies; some of
those mystics have used dance to express those inner experiences
and their devotion to a deity. A simple hand-gesture can depict a
revelation for which there are no words; the gesture might be
understood by other people, whereas words might have provoked
confusion or disagreement.

In a group, dancing is a means of ego-transcendence. We
re-define the separate ego as we merge into the group's common
activity, emotion -- and rhythm (as explained in the section on
"entrainment" below).

The rhythm induces a different state. Even if we are not
specifically meditating on the dance's rhythm (in our body or in
the accompanying music), rhythm affects us in various ways:

It influences the cadence of our heartbeat and breathing,
which in turn affect our psychological state. (Some yoga
practitioners use the breath -- in pranayama" exercises -- to
experience other states of consciousness.)

It affects the functioning of our brain; for example, the
repetitiveness and non-rationality of shamanic drumming causes
the brain's left hemisphere to diminish its activity due to
boredom and lack of meaningful input, thus allowing the right
hemisphere to become dominant with its emphasis on emotion and
intuition. (We might notice the same shift to the right
hemisphere in other repetitive activities as diverse as
jogging, or marching, or staring hypnotically at the white
lines on a highway, or riding on a horse which establishes a
physical rhythm.)

It affects us through "entrainment." Entrainment is a
phenomenon described by physicists as the tendency of two or
more moving objects in close proximity to adjust themselves to
a common rhythm; in group dancing, we gradually conform to a
unity of movement which leads to a commonality of emotion and
thought (because our thoughts and emotions are part of the
general field which is created). In a religious setting, where
our thoughts and emotions are aligned toward spirit, our
rhythmic dancing reinforces and develops the group's spiritual
orientation. This is a group meditation which uses the robust
energy of the physical body to supplement the subtler energies
of the mind and emotions in order to create a transcendent
state.

Guidelines for
dance meditation. We can use these concepts whenever we are using
dance as a type of meditation:

Focus on the dance, not the ego (or any of the ego's
archetypal field-elements which might be constellated in
dysfunctional traits which we might label vanity, shyness, etc.).
We are not distracted by a need to impress people who are watching
us, or to dance in accordance with our self-image (as a "talented
dancer" or a "klutz"), or to set standards for any qualities such
as gracefulness or spirituality. Instead, we become immersed in
our moment-to-moment expression of the feelings and revelations
which emerge. We might say that we "become the dance," or
we lose ourselves in the dancing, or we dance to a deity, or we
surrender to the dance, or we let the dance happen through us. We
allow ourselves to be whatever emerges: wild or silly or sweaty or
strange or primitive or ethereal. In order to achieve this
unself-consciousness, we must either dance alone or in a group in
which the people are accepting and non-judgmental, so that we
can improvise, and put aside the persona, and express the
intimate aspects our selves -- our spiritual devotion, our
unconscious impulses, and the feelings which seem to be too tender
to be expressed in our daily life. Allow yourself this freedom,
and allow it in the other dancers, too.

Find the "dance energy" within yourself. Our body is filled
with life, and it is constantly generating energy. While dancing,
part of the meditation is to perceive the subtle energies and
feelings which emerge from inside of us. We can detect the various
places from which the energy radiates most powerfully -- the
heart, the digestive organs, the brain, the sexual organs, the
hara (about 2" below the navel but in the center of the body), the
chakras, and other locations. We can notice the movement
of energy throughout our body -- flowing upward from our feet,
outward to our hands, etc. These energies propel our body in dance
meditation. We sense the energy's uncompromising assertiveness and
power; the best that we can do is to administer it respectfully
and accurately as the thrust of our own life.

Express those energies. Our meditation is to find a balanced
point at which we are the intermediary between the impulses which
arise and the body which expresses those impulses. We are
an interpreter (interpreting energy into action) -- but we are not
translating via our mind's analytical function, because neither
the impulses nor the body can be fully perceived, understood, or
expressed if they are viewed from an analytical perspective.
Instead, we appreciate the phenomena of impulses and movement on
their own terms, and we make a game of being a precise
communicator of our feelings into action. We allow the body to
improvise its own movements -- and then we are surprised and
perhaps thrilled by the mysterious vitality which moves in ways
which we never would have imagined. As we gradually diminish our
conscious intrusion, our body asserts its own life. The life is
somehow coming directly from the soul and filtering through us
until the entire body is such a perfect expression of the energy
that the body becomes a light, vibrant entity which is virtually
indistinguishable from the soul itself.

Allow ecstasy. When we permit the body to express itself and
to move in its own way, we are likely to feel a profoundly
sensuous and exciting sensation streaming throughout us. This is
the body coming to life. This is the state in which the ego's
dysfunctional elements no longer control us; they cannot demand
that the body conform to any mental image, nor can they convince
us that the body is nothing but a stupid machine which has meaning
and direction only if guided by the analytical function of mind. This ecstasy
-- wild, beautiful, bold -- is perhaps the body's natural state.

Techniques for
dance meditation. Many techniques are presented in the chapter
regarding movement meditation.

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